HISTORY

South Coast mission, Steve Bullet MacKenzie, Morey OZ boss George K and Ross “Hellman Hawke prepare for battle on a deserted reef . Stewart and Hauoil are already racing each other into the lineup to see who will be first to get a wave. pic Stroh ’90

 

The Ancient Paipo board was donated along with other items of Oceanian material by Alfred Fowler in 1893, it is inscribed “surf swimming board given to the donor (Fowler) by the King of Hawaii” – this was King David Kalakaua who made the gift two years earlier in 1891.

It is a 5′ 11″ long ‘Paipo’ board, tapering from 13″ behind its rounded nose to 11″ towards it tail, so it is believed it would have been used for prone surfing or by children in the waves closer to shore.

It is described as; “a long black wooden board with a rounded leading edge, tapering slightly along length to a straight-edged end. Nearly consistent depth across board. Regular, rectangular holes cut in along the two long sides, ranging from 0.5 to 1cm from the edge. One hole rounded, as if to fit a screw.”The wood is possibly koa stained with kukui nut oil, and was originally part of the Christy Collection. The shape is actually quite complex, with a concave deck and convex bottom – not just a flat plank.

One of Brazil’s finest men bodyboarders throughout the 90′s and 2000′s and a regular travel companion with Tamega on the world tour. Paulo etched his name in history with a win at Pipeline the only 2nd male bodyboarder to achieve that feat. Paulo competing at the Shark Island Challenge photo Stroh.

 

 

Beau Day from the inner city beaches of Sydney grew up riding in the  Tamarama and  Bronte shorey. When Beau burst onto the scene in the mid 90s he had one of the most tweaked inverts in the sport. However all that tweaking eventually stuffed up his back , he landed wrong in a wipeout and was forced into early retirement when he ruined his back with a career ending injury. Around 12 months out of the water recovering and doctors warning he would not bodyboard ever again Beau was back but this time he was concentrating on his tube riding skills rather than his Eppo inspired tricks. Over the next few years Beau was back and his riding had matured and was even more impressive. This shot Beau reef rushing at the peak of his skills late 90′s by Stroh.

In the late 80′s and early 90′s a group of young Cronulla bodyboarders made their presence felt in the bodyboarding world when they began charging at Shark Island. At the time and pre -tow in days, The Island was regarded as one of the heaviest ride-able barrels in the world. Suddenly names like Doug Robson, Brett Young, Nugget, Perce, Wingnut and Dave  Ballard were all over the bodyboard magazines and videos. It was a far different time back then where everyone was pushing hard for recognition and those good ol days will never be repeated.There were others as well like Rissole, Tristan,Wazza and  Mark Fordham who were as equally talented and prepared to put their lives on the line to get the barrel of the day. Fordy pictured below taking a mean free-fall ended up on the cover of Riptide a few frames later after this sequence shot was snapped by Craig Stroh.

Filmed by Chris Stroh

 

From The DK Story part of The Retrospect 3 part Dvd series by Chris Stroh

From Rertrospect Bodyboard History 3 part series DVD by Chris Stroh

From Retrospect 3 part series by Chris Stroh